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The Importance of Keeping An Accurate Scorecard
There are times when golfers of all ages and skill levels are faced with making the difficult decision of calling a fellow competitor on a rules infraction or refusing to sign a scorecard. Here is an interesting story and excerpt from the Irish Times.
“Taking action is essential to preserve integrity of the game”
“There was an incident in the first round of the Open de Andualusia held at the Parador Golf Club in Malaga, Spain, which required a notice to be posted in the scorer’s office in order for the rest of the field to be totally clear about what happened. The result was that two players from the same group were disqualified due to one of them “incorrectly” replacing his ball on the green.”
The article is referring to a player who incorrectly replaced his ball on the green plus his marker who had reported to the tournament committee after the scorecards had been returned that he had seen the player incorrectly replace his ball on the 16th and 18th greens.
Why was the marker disqualified? “By signing the incorrect scorecard he was deemed, in effect, to be an accomplice”.
If you see a playing partner doing something inappropriate on the course you have a duty to take action. Taking action will probably lead to some discussion and maybe a little bad feeling. The easiest and wrong thing to do is ignore an action by a fellow competitor that you know is wrong. You MUST protect yourself, your fellow competitors and the integrity of the game.
A signature on a scorecard is an endorsement of integrity, now just a scrawl on the end of a piece of paper.
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